What should I do if I find an orphaned baby opossum wandering about?

So, you are outside in your backyard one evening, and you suddenly notice a little opossum baby crawling across your yard. You move away from it, a very good idea, so that you do not get bit or come in contact with the animal. Sadly, the opossum can be a very dangerous animal because they carry a lot of diseases, so avoiding any contact with it at all is a very good idea.

You decide to go inside and watch for the mother but, sadly, no mother appears. You soon realize that the poor little tyke is by him or herself, and is likely an orphan. Now your repulsion turns to sympathy and you wonder what to do in this situation.

It is unfortunate, but this kind of occurrence happens quite often in the animal world. The mother goes out to get food and gets trapped by a predator that kills it. She is hit by a car, or a predator attacks the nest and kills all but one of the babies. The mother thinks they are all dead, so she simply leaves, not realizing that one has survived. Now that one is left to survive on its own.

Looking at the little critter you realize that survival is not going to occur if it is left to its own devices. It needs some assistance, and without the mommy you may be the only option it has to survive. Here is the dilemma.

You want to help, but you don’t want to get bit or sick. That could be fatal, so what do you do? Here are some suggestions.

Start by contacting the local animal control in your area and see if they have any suggestions. They may even be willing to pick up the animal and take it to a refuge for you. If they are, then your problem is resolved.

They may only be willing to suggest where a refuge is apt to take the animal to. This means that you have to drive it over there, but you need to be really careful. You should not even touch this animal with your bare hands, so you need to get very thick gloves, cover your eyes and mouth, and wear clothing that covers all your skin. Heard it into some kind of cage and then drive it to the preserve. Keep the cage covered and make sure you thoroughly clean out your vehicle after dropping the animal off.

While you may be tempted to do so, do not attempt to raise this animal on your own. You could very easily get sick, and you need to keep in mind that this is a wild animal. At some point it is going to scratch or claw you.
Read more: Opossum Control, How to Get Rid of Opossums, Opossum Feces.